MRA 2014 ~ Facilitating Choice Within Curriculum Constraintswww.slideshare.net/mrsheise

Jillian Heise7th & 8th grade Language Arts Teacher, Indian Community School of Milwaukee, WI

@heisereads, heisereads@gmail.com, www.heisereads.com, www.heisewrites.blogspot.com

Sarah AndersenHigh School English Teacher, Fenton Area Public Schools, Michigan

@yaloveblog, lovingyalit@gmail.com, http://yaloveblog.com

Why Choice Reading? More reading = improved skills, increased vocabulary, & higher test scores Move from teacher­chosen 4 books/year, to students actively reading more at own level. Less

"stuff" & more real reading every day. As students move up in grade level, attitude toward reading turns more negative (most

noticeably in the middle school years). Need engagement & interest to increase motivation. Allow choice = meet these requirements

What the Common Core State Standards Say: Texts need to be selected around topics or themes that generate knowledge and allow students to study those

topics or themes in depth. Whatever they are reading, students must also show a steadily growing ability to discern more from and make

fuller use of text, including making an increasing number of connections among ideas and between texts, considering a wider range of textual evidence, and becoming more sensitive to inconsistencies, ambiguities, and poor reasoning in texts.

Teachers are thus free to provide students with whatever tools and knowledge their professional judgment and experience identify as most helpful for meeting the goals set out in the Standards.

Choice reading can meet all of these goals!

Distribution of Types of Reading: 8th grade: 45% Literary & 55% Informational ~ 12th grade: 30% Literary & 70% Informational

*The percentages reflect the sum of student reading, not just reading in ELA settings. (CCSS)

What to Do: Read. A lot. (learn titles and themes and which books will connect with which students) Be a model reader (students need to see you as an authority and see your reading life) Be a book talker (think of it as being an advertiser) Do read alouds (be the fluent example & share good books that students might miss) Be a book pusher (never miss an opportunity to recommend a book to a student)

Next Steps to Implement in Your Room: Build your classroom library Start reading. A lot. Then start recommending books to students. Give kids time in class to read. Find related themes & books for novels you currently teach Start small ­ choose one unit to try it (perhaps a specific genre unit)

Books that Hook AdolescentsThis list represents some of the most talked about, mentioned, & passed around fiction books from students in our classrooms. Many of these cross over middle/high school boundaries. Remember: You know your students best and what will fit them.

High School Middle School

13 Reasons Why (Asher) Perfect Chemistry (Elkeles) Divergent (Roth) Clarity (Harrington) Legend (Lu) The Mockingbirds (Whitney) Crank (and other Ellen Hopkins books) Living Dead Girl (Scott) Twisted (Halse Anderson) Hush, Hush (Fitzpatrick) Page by Paige (Gulledge) Right Behind You (Giles) Purple Heart (McCormick) Swim the Fly (Calame) The Unbecoming of Mara Dyer (Hodkin) THE DUFF (Keplinger) The Warrior Heir trilogy (Williams Chima) Stupid Fast (Herbach) Wake trilogy (McMann) Paranoid Park (Nelson) Before I Fall & Delirium (Oliver) Jumping Off Swings (and other Jo Knowles books) The Fault in Our Stars ( and other John Green

books) Tell Me a Secret (Cupula) The Perks of Being a Wallflower (Chbosky) Refresh Refresh (Percy) Every Day (Levithan) I Am the Messenger (Zusak) Anna Dressed in Blood (Blake) Catching Jordan (Kenneally) Unwind (Shusterman) Hold Still (LaCour) Variant (Wells) Blue is for Nightmares series (Stolarz) Gym Candy (Deuker) Crackback (Coy) Breathing Underwater (Flinn) Hex Hall series (Hawkins) Cracked Up to Be (Summers) Sweethearts & How to Save a Life (Zarr) Monster (Dean Myers) Gym Candy (Deuker) Winger (Smith) Chasing Brooklyn (Schroeder) Enclave (Aguirre) I Hunt Killers (Lyga)

anything Rick Riordan The Strange Case of Origami Yoda (Angleberger) The Unwanteds (McMann) Pivot Point (West) The Hunger Games (Collins) I Am Number Four (Lore) The Absolutely True Diary of a Part­Time Indian

(Alexie) The One and Only Ivan (Applegate) Wonder (Palacio) I Heart You, You Haunt Me (Schroeder) Speak (Halse Anderson) What My Mother Doesn't Know (Sones) Smile and Drama (Telgemeier) The 39 Clues series Mike Lupica sports books Kate Messner books Tommy Joe Jackson's Guide to Not Reading

(Greenwald) Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Kinney) 13 Reasons Why (Asher) Perfect Chemistry (Elkeles) Divergent (Roth) Clarity (Harrington) Legend (Lu) The Ranger's Apprentice series (Flanagan) The Alex Rider series (Horowitz) Gordon Korman books The Fourth Stall (Rylander) Sidekicks (Santant) Amulet series (Kibuiski) Diary of a Wimpy Kid series (Kinney) Among the Hidden series (Haddix) The Maze Runner (Dashner) The Last Thing I Remember (Klavan) Crash & Bang (McMann) The Distance Between Us (West) Escape from Furnace series (Gordon Smith) I Am a Seal Team Six Warrior (Wasdin & Templin) Altered (Rush) Dead to You (McMann) Cryer’s Cross (McMann) Fracture (Miranda) Better Off Friends (Eulberg) The Testing (Charbonneau) Gone series (Grant) City of Bones (Clare) & the rest of the series

Read Aloud IdeasWe have had great success reading aloud to our students. Here is a list of novels we’ve read aloud which have been successful in our classrooms. We always advise that you read the book prior to reading it aloud to your students so you’re aware of any mature themes, language, etc. that may not be suitable for your entire class of students to hear.

Sarah’s favorite high school read alouds: Speak by Laurie Halse Anderson Hex Hall by Rachel Hawkins Legend by Marie Lu Boy21 by Matthew Quick Unwind by Neal Shusterman Curveball: The Year I Lost My Grip by Jordan Sonnenblick

Jillian’s favorite middle school read alouds: The One and Only Ivan by Katherine Applegate Wonder by R.J. Palacio The Unwanteds by Lisa McMann Divergent by Veronica Roth The Real Boy by Anne Ursu One for the Murphys by Lynda Mullaly Hunt

Start Building Your PLN! Some of the awesome bookish educators/librarians we follow on Twitter:

Teri Lesesne ­ @ProfessorNana Paul Hankins ­ @PaulWHankinsDonalyn Miller ­ @donalynbooks John Schu ­ @MrSchuReadsColby Sharp ­ @colbysharp Katherine Sokolowski ­ @katsokMindi Rench ­ @mindi_r Brian Wyzlic ­ @brianwyzlicSherry Gick ­ @LibraryFanatic Kathy M. Burnette ­ @thebrainlairJennifer Fountain ­ @jennann516 Jennifer Shettel ­ @readndrJessica Crawford ­ @JCrawford728 Beth Shaum ­ @BethShaumErica Beaton ­ @B10LovesBooks Sarah Mulhern Gross ­ @thereadingzoneCindy Minnich ­ @CBethM Jen Vincent ­ @mentortextsKellee Moye ­ @kelleemoye Niki Ohs Barnes ­ @daydreamreaderSusan Dee ­ @literacydocent Jennifer Reed ­ @libraryreederFranki Sibberson ­ @frankisibberson Holly Mueller ­ @MuellerHollyTony Keefer ­ @TonyKeefer Alyson Beecher ­ @alybee930Lynne S. ­ @spartanlynne Cathy Blackler ­ @Cathy_BlacklerKelly D. Vorhis ­ @kelvorhis Cynthia Alaniz ­ @utalanizDanielle Kulwiak ­ @MyMercurialMuse Kyle Farlie ­ @kyleloveslit

References cited in presentation: (Allington, 2001; Allington, 2005; Allington and Gabriel, 2012; Guthrie et al., 2006; Ivey & Broaddus, 2001; Krashen 2001; Lesesne, 2010; McKenna, Kear, and Ellsworth, 1995; McTighe and Wiggins, 2005; Miller, 2009; Nippold et al., 2005; Pitcher et al., 2007; Stanovich, 2000 as cited in Allington, 2002; Tomlinson and McTighe, 2006; Turner, 1995 as cited in Allington, 2002; Worthy, Turner, & Moorman, 1998)